Sierra Club to Plant Thousands of American Flags, Call for Freedom from Oil this Independence DayOnline Action Allows Citizens to Participate in Event From Home

Washington, D.C. - Sierra Club has begun organizing for a massive demonstration of opposition to offshore drilling and support for clean energy, planned for June 30 in Washington, D.C.

The organization will plant thousands of flags on the National Mall, representing all those who plant a flag online to show their support for President Obama to develop a plan to create ‘Freedom From Oil’.

The event is part of the Sierra Club's Beyond Oil campaign, launched after the BP Disaster in the Gulf with the goal of calling on President Obama to deliver a plan to end America's addiction to oil over the next 20 years. As part of the effort, the Sierra Club has been organizing rallies and events around the country, and has reached out to its 1.3 million members and supporters. More than 110,629 people have already signed Sierra Club's petition to President Obama. The organization is also taking out advertisements, organizing boat tours of the disaster, and creating a short documentary film that will be used to help organize citizens around the country.

Statement of Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune:

President Obama recognizes that our dependence on oil has created all kinds of problems, most recently the horrible disaster we're watching unfold in the Gulf. Now we are asking the president to lay out a specific plan to move America beyond oil dependence over the next twenty years.

We're asking everyone who feels frustration and grief at the tragedy in the Gulf to speak up and help make sure this never happens again. We need to stand up to the oil industry once and for all. We need to finally embrace the clean energy solutions that will free us from oil. We need President Obama to tell us exactly what steps we can take now to end our oil dependence and how every American can be a part of this change.

Not everyone can attend a rally or event to demonstrate their support for clean energy, but they can show their support by planting a flag online, and we will plant a flag for them in Washington, D.C.

On the 4th of July, we celebrate America's independence, innovation and resilience. Those uniquely American qualities are the same ones that will help us free ourselves from the oil dependence that has wrought so much damage to our economy, our oceans and wildlife, and our communities.